“Modern music gets on my nerves.”
— Savitri Devi
Savitri Devi
confessed to not being particularly musical. She never owned a radio or
a phonograph, and she seldom if ever had the money or opportunity to
attend concerts or the opera.
Apparently she did,
however, have some opportunities to listen to and appreciate classical
music, whether live, in broadcasts, or on records. Perhaps she did so
when visiting friends. The two composers Savitri mentioned appreciating
are Bach and Wagner (specifically the latter’s Ring cycle), and she also praised the conductor Wilhelm Furtwängler.
According to
one of Savitri’s Greek friends, she also loved Greek folk music. And,
of course, Savitri loved and committed to memory most of the songs of
the National Socialist Movement.
Like many of her
generation and convictions, Savitri had no patience for jazz, rock, or
other contemporary forms of music. Nevertheless, Savitri has inspired
musical compositions, such as Current 93’s “Hitler as Kalki (SDM
[Savitri Devi Mukherji]),” Changes’ “Mahabharata of the Soul,” and
Scorpion Wind’s “Paradise of Perfection” (which uses words from The Lightning and the Sun), among others.
To
commemorate Savitri Devi’s 102nd birthday, which falls on 30 September
2007, the Savitri Devi Archive will release a CD of musical
compositions and other recordings. For convenience, we are dubbing this
“The Savitri Diva Project.” (“Diva” like “devi” means “goddess” and has
the same Indo-European root.)
The contents can take a variety of forms, including, but not confined to:
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1. Recordings of Savitri Devi singing bits of
“Es zittern die morschen Knochen,” “Deutschland Erwache,” and “Wir sind
die Sturmkolonnen,” and reciting her poem “1953.” (The recitation could
be set to music.)
2. Recordings of Savitri Devi speaking. (We have many hours of Savitri speaking in English, German, and French.)
3. Instrumental compositions inspired by Savitri Devi.
4. Songs setting words of Savitri Devi’s or inspired by her life and ideas.
5. It might also be appropriate to set words
by authors Savitri admired, such as Nietzsche, Leconte de Lisle, Wulf
Sörensen (whom she mistakenly identified as Heinrich Himmler),
Akhnaton's Hymns to the Sun, and even Hindu scriptures, such as her
favorite passages from the Bhagavad-Gita or the descriptions of the
Kali Yuga from various Puranas. |
The Archive will make available copies of Savitri’s texts and recordings to artists interested in participating.
Eleven artists are participating:
David E. Williams & Lloyd James
Jerome Deppe
Soul of Steel
Von Thronstahl
Et moi
The Analog Music Project
Retroprisma
Zhark
Exemtum
Second Ammendment
Thousand Year Reich
The CD will also
feature original artwork and the booklet will contain an essay by R. G.
Fowler and several previously unpublished color photographs of Savitri
and her friends and comrades.
Any proceeds over and above manufacturing costs and honoraria for artists will go to benefit the Archive.
If you have any questions or suggestions, please contact R.G. Fowler: archivist@savitridevi.org
